5 Points Are Better Than None

The Wrecclesham Owls were held to a winning draw by a youthful Grayshott side on Saturday but surprisingly still managed to claim the top spot in Division II in the process.

The Wreccers welcomed the exciting Chris 'The Arm' Board into the team for his debut and James 'Merry' Merryweather also made his first I'anson appearance of the season for the Owls senior side.

Skipper Boniface won the toss on a typically stinking hot day (here in India Richie) and took the unusual decision to bat first on a pretty good looking wicket.

The decision almost immediately backfired as Matt 'MB is he on E?' Parkinson was caught and bowled (as seems to be his want these days!) in the second over to put the visitors under some early pressure.

James Wright came in to steady the ship and did a decent enough job up until the point he was dismissed by a wonder catch at about 3rd slip, ironically by a player with the nickname 'Butters'.

Board, despite showing glimpses of real promise, suffered a very similar fate starting well but nicking behind a fairly routine delivery whilst looking well set.

Thankfully Chris 'Farnham Herald' Spooner was fairing slightly better and had managed to amass some runs whilst looking his usual solid self. He was joined by Chris 'The Rock' Windeatt as the pair set about repairing some of the damage.

Despite the brief renaissance enjoyed by the pair Spooner was soon to be rather surprisingly caught off a short delivery as he looked to cash in and the game drifted back into the home sides favour at 75-5.

Windeatt was in typically resilient mood though and set about hauling the Owls back into the contest with a fine batting display.

The angry middle order campaigner, who has excelled this year, was at his stubborn best, rejecting decent balls with a sturdy forward defensive and thrashing anything off line or over pitched into the deep outfield.

He was well supported first of all by Henry 'Granny Basher' Bate who struck a classy and vital 28 before being unfortunately run out (see quote of the week) and then by Oli 'Bondi Beach' Caston who contributed a quick fire and well timed 29 (I don't think i've ever seen someone dropped 5 times before!) to add to his recent list of fine knocks.

Brief cameos from Merryweather and Neal 'Hamstring' Harris upped the run rate towards the end of the innings and Windeatt completed a well deserved 50 finishing on 51 not out as the Owls posted a competitive 195-8 from their full allocation of 48 overs.

A magnificent tea was taken in the glorious late afternoon sun and the Owls set about their task in confident mood.

Caston and Spooner found a rhythm and the latter removed Gregory in the second over of the game, Bate taking a decent catch behind the stumps to give the Owls a great start.

However Phillimore and his new partner Baker, who survived a straightfoward nick off the bowling of Spooner, managed to stick around and whilst they didn't really threaten in terms of scoring they showed good application to bat out until the drinks interval with the home side only 1 wicket down after 16 overs.

The Owls came back and tried to up the ante and struck almost immediately with Spooner, who bowled well without a lot of luck all day, removing Baker for a well made 20.

This was the impetus the visitors needed and soon after Caston removed young Phillimore and wickets started to fall more regularly.

The home side had a small revival of fortunes as Caffrey and Judge saw off a few overs but the introduction of Dan 'Bionic Man' Vasey seemed to give the Owls a lift as he rattled off a couple of wickets thanks to a very tidy quickfire spell.

However despite another tremendous spell from the marathon man Oli Caston (18-5-17-4) young Jackson and Brown were determined to gain their side a draw and despite a few chances both showed good concentration and ability to see out the final few overs, gaining Grayshott a hard earned 2 points.

What was unbeknown to the Owls at this stage was both Cody and Blackheath had succumbed to surprise defeats and this 5 points put the Mighty Wreccers top of the table for the first time this year.

Next up for the Wrecclesham is Frensham II's at the fortress.

Afterword by Joe Boniface

Whilst we only managed to pick up 5 points (there were times not that long ago when this felt like a win not a defeat) gents there are definitely some positives to take from the game.

We created the chances to win the game an on another day we would have held our catches better and picked up the 10 points our domination arguably deserved. If we can just sharpen up that extra 5-10% in the field then we can really take advantage of these situations and we must do that if we want to compete in the highest division.

The way we recovered to post a competitive total was superb though, 4 or 5 people made a telling contribution and that highlights our strength in depth which is what sets us apart in my view.

If we are to succeed in this league then it will be because of our ability as a team from 1 right through to 11.

Windeatt you are back to your best and it was a great knock at a crucial time (do you ever pull it out the bag at any other time?) so well done on that mate keep it up.

Oli, a wonderful spell yet again, you were unlucky not to pick up another 5 wicket haul and if you carry on like this you will have a cracking season.

Spoons, a great spell from you as well, keep plugging away with the ball, I am sure you will start to get your deserved rewards soon mate.

Top top top of the league!

Bring on next week

Up the Owls